MORGENTHAU’S PERSPECTIVE
Morgenthau puts national interest-defined power in the center of his analysis. One of his frequently cited thoughts: "The main signpost that helps political realism find its way through the landscape of international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power" (Morgenthau, 1978). According to his view, national interest and power are very closely connected.
For Morgenthau, domestic politics and international affairs are separate realms that require different tools. Beliefs and values of decision-makers might be important in domestic politics, but Morgenthau assumes that the international environment employs sufficient compulsion on its members, which means that their behavior is usually not significantly affected by their internal characteristics. Although it does not match with the well-established realist view, Morgenthau underlines a vital function of diplomacy.
In the last chapter of Politics Among Nations, he explains that rather than pursuing expansion of …show more content…
His central insight in the 1978 paper “Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma,” was that “many of the means by which a state tries to increase its security decrease the security of others.” For instance, U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises are designed to increase those countries’ security, but North Korea sees them as decreasing its own. American missile defenses on the Korean peninsula, meant to blunt the threat of the North’s missiles, have radars that look to China make Korea seems like they could help America spy on China’s own weapons, threatening Beijing’s ability to defend itself (Gilsinan, 2017). As he concluded his thought, “the basic thing about the security dilemma is that when it comes to their security, even normal states are a bit
Morgenthau puts national interest-defined power in the center of his analysis. One of his frequently cited thoughts: "The main signpost that helps political realism find its way through the landscape of international politics is the concept of interest defined in terms of power" (Morgenthau, 1978). According to his view, national interest and power are very closely connected.
For Morgenthau, domestic politics and international affairs are separate realms that require different tools. Beliefs and values of decision-makers might be important in domestic politics, but Morgenthau assumes that the international environment employs sufficient compulsion on its members, which means that their behavior is usually not significantly affected by their internal characteristics. Although it does not match with the well-established realist view, Morgenthau underlines a vital function of diplomacy.
In the last chapter of Politics Among Nations, he explains that rather than pursuing expansion of …show more content…
His central insight in the 1978 paper “Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma,” was that “many of the means by which a state tries to increase its security decrease the security of others.” For instance, U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises are designed to increase those countries’ security, but North Korea sees them as decreasing its own. American missile defenses on the Korean peninsula, meant to blunt the threat of the North’s missiles, have radars that look to China make Korea seems like they could help America spy on China’s own weapons, threatening Beijing’s ability to defend itself (Gilsinan, 2017). As he concluded his thought, “the basic thing about the security dilemma is that when it comes to their security, even normal states are a bit